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by Frank James
A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.
In his third surprise visit to Iraq, President Bush hinted that a U.S. troop withdrawal was possible if the "kind of success we are now seeing continues," a statement meant to pre-empt White House critics ahead of Gen. David Petraeus's Iraq progress report scheduled for next week.
The surge is at the center of Gen. David Petraeus's counterinsurgency strategy but the results to date have been transitory and sometimes not even real, with one of the general's proudest achievements, the Dora market to which he takes visiting congressional delegations, something of a Potemkin village.
U.S. counterinsurgency efforts have failed to reconcile the sectarian splits in Iraq with the religious divide actually appearing to worsen, violence being displaced to outside the capital and political infighting stalling the government's progress.
While the progress of the Iraqi military has been oft-touted, clear signs exist that some units are deeply infiltrated by Shi'ite militiamen, making them uncertain allies to U.S. troops trying to secure Baghdad neighborhoods.
President Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress face the biggest executive versus legislative branch budget battle in more than a decade as both sides see political gain in standing their ground, with the White House criticizing Democrats for wanting to spend $22 billion on domestic programs than Bush wants while Democrats say the president, under whom the federal budgets have gone from surplus to deficits, is the last one who should be counseling fiscal discipline.
The presidential candidates marked the Labor Day holiday with appearances in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, calling it the kickoff of a campaign that actually started months ago and in which the leaders in the polls appear to have consolidated their positions.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a former senior Justice Department official, is thought to be high on the list of potential replacements for departing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, but he and other possible candidates may be seen by Democratic senators as too political to be confirmed.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has fallen significantly behind in processing DNA samples from 200,000 convicted criminals and that backlog is likely to grow with new laws requiring DNA samples from many more felons.
Comments
In the news the Swamp hasn't reported, the Washington Post, usually a fertile source for Swamp stories, reports that another one of Hillary Clinton's top fundraisers, Sant S. Chatwal, is wanted by the IRS to pay $4 million in back taxes and by the state of NY for $5 million. Three months after Chatwal hosted a Sept. 2000 fundraiser for Hillary, Bill Clinton's FDIC settled a $12 million bank fraud case against Chatwal for $125,000. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/02/AR2007090201436_2.html
for the scandal that even the WaPo reports on, but the Trib hasn't or won't.
Posted by: Bruce | September 4, 2007 8:59 AM
Little Georgie Satancheney went on an adventure this weekend. Now he can hang another picture of himslef in a rough & tought combat zone and pretend that he was once a soldier. At least ... for 15 minutes he looked like someone who might have been one, a long time ago.
His memoirs will like have a full chapter or two to "my combat days," full of stories of fighting, bravery, bombs exploding while he leads a charge of 1,000 soldiers to clear out an entrenched combat and sniper force. Heck, he might even get a little nick for which he bravely declines the Purple Heart in favor of someone "more deserving." It brings a tear to the eye already.
I can already hear the cheering, "My God! That man is so brave," they will all cheer!
Posted by: snalg | September 4, 2007 8:59 AM
Why is Bush talking about a withdrawal. That will only "embolden" the terrorists if they know we will withdraw.
Posted by: bill r. | September 4, 2007 9:02 AM
I can't believe Bush wants to cut and run!
Posted by: Marko | September 4, 2007 10:09 AM
Loony Lefties: 3
Third graders: 0
Posted by: Swamp Scoreboard | September 4, 2007 11:36 AM
Bruce's hatred for any Democratic politician is in high gear lately.
Posted by: BC | September 4, 2007 2:25 PM